BENEFITS OF BILINGUALISM

 

While it is certainly possible to learn a language later in life, many studies have shown that there is a significant advantage for those who have had the opportunity to learn a second language from childhood. Research on cognition demonstrates that the human brain is more open to linguistic development in the years before adolescence. In this way, children who learn a language early are more likely to achieve native-like pronunciation.

 

Moreover, early language learning has proven to encourage cognitive and academic benefits beyond facility with languages. These advantages include increased mental flexibility, improved divergent thinking, and, some studies show, higher scores on measures of verbal ability in the native language. 

 

Beyond the benefits of the language skills acquired, learning a second language allows tremendous insight into other cultures. Today’s world language instruction goes well beyond rehearsing verb tenses to teaching children about the art, literature, music, history, and life in other countries. In learning about other countries and regions, children come to understand that different languages and cultures use different strategies of communication and they learn to understand subjects from multiple perspectives. They also develop a set of skills that enable them to adapt (code switch) between different cultural communication strategies, a skill that is useful in our diverse societies. Learning a second language, therefore, can benefit children even if they do not attain high levels of proficiency.